Jenna Allsworth
A hand-written letter is more than just words on a page. The fact that someone actually took the time out of his or her day to sit down and write a letter to someone is a very personal and meaningful act. When texting or online messaging someone, there is a sort of disconnect between you and what you are trying to say to that particular person. By writing it down, your thoughts are connecting the pen to paper and making it much more personal. No one letter is alike. We all have different handwriting and styles of writing that make each letter unique and distinct to the person who has written it. I much more prefer receiving a letter in the mail as opposed to a quick text. In most cases, it is much more polite to send someone a letter rather than emailing or texting them because it shows you put more thought and consideration into what you’re trying to say. For instance, sending a thank you note means a lot more if you have taken your time and written it out rather than texting a “thank you” that could have potentially been typed out by anyone. Any two texts can look exactly the same, while no two letters can look alike.
In my case, I wrote a letter to a very good friend that passed away a few months ago from a disease called Cystic Fibrosis. Even though she would have never had gotten the opportunity to read it, the letter is more for me than for anyone else. It is my way of expressing my thoughts and feelings, and in a way, it helps me heal. When I wrote my letter for my friend, I felt as if she was looking down on me from Heaven, and reading the letter. It gives me a sense of mind, and it feels much more personal to have written it with my own hands rather that meaninglessly typing it away on a keyboard. When I was younger, I used to have a pen pal and we would write letters back and forth between one another. We did it mostly because it was a fun way to keep in touch and it was always so exciting to finally get that letter in the mail. We would decorate the letter with markers and stickers, and any other way that would make the letters very unique to us. While emails and text messages may be difficult to keep forever, a letter you can be sure to always be able to keep and is something that can actually be held with your own two hands. Writing a hand-written letter to someone may appear as a dying art, but due to its meaning and significance, I believe hand-written letters will live on forever.
My Journal 1 Entry
My Journal 2 Entry
To create our vines, my three partners and I agreed on a meeting time so we could help one another film, act, and contribute ideas towards making our individual vines. When we met, we each had an idea of what we wanted to do for our videos. We told one another what we wrote about for our writing segments, and based off of that, we then brainstormed ideas on how to create our vine videos. One of my segments of writing was about how I had a diary when I was younger. I specifically remember writing personal details that were important to my life and I, and then I walked away for a few minutes with my diary left open on my chair. When I returned, I found my brother reading my diary. So based off of that, I created my vine relating to writing in my diary. I first show “My Diary” and me writing in it, and then I walk away for a bit to return to catch “my brother” snooping and reading it. When I would write in my diary, it was a very personal experience for me because I would write down my deepest and darkest secrets that I did not want anyone to know about. I tried to show the violation of my diary through the use of the vine video. When producing my vine, I considered making sure the video showed different clips as opposed to just one long constant video taking up the full six seconds. My partners and I had to make sure we made the point of our videos clear by still remaining within the six second cut-off.
My Journal 3 Entry
(Click my handwritten letter to enlarge it)
 My Bird Mail StickerAs I was sitting on Landis, I noticed the birds around me chirping. The sound of their chirping made me feel so at peace and relaxed so that is when I decided to create a mail sticker based off of the birds. I drew a yellow bird on a tree branch, where I assumed the actual birds that I could hear were singing from a tree. On the sticker I wrote, “STOP…and listen to the birds CHIRP!”. Through this sticker, my message to people is to take a break from their busy lives and have a moment to just listen to the peaceful sounds of nature. |  My Tree Mail StickerI drew an image of a tree on the mail sticker because when I was looking around Landis Green, the trees were all around me. I remember the first time I came to FSU, the trees with the hanging moss was the first thing that caught my eye. I love all the trees and the moss and felt that they make the campus look even more beautiful. A tree that I was sitting in front of became my inspiration for this sticker so I tried my best to draw the exact tree with sharpies. |  My Camera Mail StickerI drew the camera on the sticker because I love photography and cameras. Instead of drawing a camera on the sticker, I turned the entire sticker into looking like a full size camera. I drew the camera using only one medium: a black sharpie. |
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 My World Peace StickerInstead of using words to portray my message of world peace, I drew a picture of the Earth and a hand holding up the peace sign using sharpies. Of course, world peace would be ideal and is something most people on this planet would love. I thought of the most universal concept that most people want for our planet, and world peace was the first thing that came to mind. |  My No Smoking StickerThis was the first sticker that I drew using sharpies. I thought of something that I am very strongly against, and so I decided to draw a no smoking sign with cross bones representing death right next to it. Above these images, I then drew green gunk dripping down to represent the grossness that I associate smoking to. The clear message that I am trying to portray is that I wish people would stop smoking, or at least stop smoking in areas where nonsmokers are inhabiting. |  My Jenna Mail StickerThis mail sticker is very simple, probably the simplest of all the ones I drew. I wrote my name in five different colored sharpies that are in my favorite and preferable colors. I then drew flowers around my name because I happen to love flowers. My purpose in drawing my name on this mail sticker is because my name is who I am. I have the intention of putting this mail sticker on the outside of my dorm room door. |
 My Flower Mail StickerI covered this entire mail sticker with sharpie. The reason I decided to draw a flower on this sticker was because I thought of what I doodled the most while I am bored in a particular class. I always tend to draw the same flower over and over again so this became my inspiration for this sticker. Even though blue and yellow flowers do not actually naturally exist as far as I know, I love the color combination of blue and yellow so that is why I chose those specific colors. Plus, flowers make me happy! |  My Halloween Mail StickerSince it is now October and Halloween is getting near, I decided to dedicate one of my mail stickers to celebrating Halloween. When I think of Halloween, the first thing that I think of is carving pumpkins. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved carving faces into pumpkins and turning them into jack-o-lanterns. I used sharpie to draw a jack-o-lantern and I wrote Happy Halloween to fully portray my message of Halloween. |  My Recycling Mail StickerOn this mail sticker, I drew the symbol of recycling in green sharpie because green represents keeping our Earth green and healthy. It is important to me that we keep our planet safe and clean so that was my inspiration for creating this sticker. I also wrote “Recycle” and “Save our Planet,” to full get my message across. |
 My Ladybug Mail StickerMy inspiration came to me while I was sitting out on Landis drawing my mail stickers, and a ladybug landed on my hand so I thought, why not use the ladybug as one of my mail sticker creations? Supposedly, if a ladybug lands on you then it is considered good luck. I drew my picture using sharpies, and I also drew the exact black spots that was on the ladybug that landed on me on the mail sticker ladybug. I drew the ladybug on a goldish colored leaf instead of a typical green leaf because the we are in the season of fall. (I also included an actual picture of the ladybug that landed on me!) |  The ladybug that was my inspiration for my "Ladybug Mail Sticker." |
All around town, and throughout the country, Priority Mail Stickers from USPS can be seen stuck around at the most random places. They usually have images or writings on them that are trying to get a specific message across to the public. These stickers can be most likely to be seen in more urban areas rather that rural. These signify someone who wants their voice to be heard, or their artwork to be appreciated. Some people may even do it for pure fun. I created my own 10 mail stickers that each had a meaning a significance to me, even if it may not have any meaning to someone else. I used my opinions, strong beliefs, hobbies, and the beauty around me to create these mail stickers.
My Refelction:
My Journal 4 Entry
For my fourth journal entry, I made an audacity file to personally narrate a specific event in my life that defines who I am today. I discuss the time I met my best friends when we moved in across the street from them, and the impact they have had on me as an individual.
My Journal 5 Entry
While I was walking back to my dorm room, I entered the parking lot behind my dorm and found a small piece of paper folded into a square in the dirt. I had just left English class so the project of finding a letter of some sort was still fresh in my mind. I decided to pick it up and read it. What I found was some girl’s to-do list. I think I can safely assume it’s a sorority girl’s letter because she writes that on Saturday she has to go to a sorority reveal. Honestly, I sort of found this to-do list funny to read. I’m naturally a nosy person so I also found this interesting to see what this girl had to do for the week. For her three first items on the list that I am assuming are school related, she states that she “*Needs that A, yo!*” Another thing on her to-do list that I found interesting was that she made a note to “Photoshop More!” …but only on Wednesdays. She also had to remind herself to change her sheets, then wash those sheets. Then on Thursday, she is going to the Catching Fire Premiere, and on Friday she is “Shopping @ the Mall w/ Marci”! This to-do list does not have much significance to it other than the fact that I found it slightly humorous how the girl wrote in her private to-do list. I was drawn to it because I am curious as to what other people’s weeks consist of compared to mine. Too bad she lost her to-do list; and I hope whoever she is that she can remember everything on it!
(Click on the image to enlarge it)
Click the PLAY BUTTON to listen to my Audacity file
